Ecuador

Chronology of Coverage

Dec. 17, 2014

Government officials say that Obama administration waived ban preventing wealthy, politically connected Ecuadorean woman Estefania Isaias from coming to United States after her family donated tens of thousands of dollars to Democratic campaigns; over past few years, administration appears to have favored Isaias family, which Ecuador accuses of buying protection and living in Miami off profits of looted bank. MORE

Sep. 23, 2014

Joe Nocera Op-Ed column examines story of Steven Donziger, attorney who allegedly committed multiple acts of fraud during his two-decade legal battle to force Chevron to clean up environmental mess it left in Ecuador when it pulled out in 1990s; notes while Donziger has denied the charges, his account has inconsistencies and there are several questions he has yet to answer. MORE

Sep. 14, 2014

Aug. 6, 2014

Alvaro Noboa, Ecuadorean banana mogul and one of the richest men in Latin America, has bought mysterious newspaper ads most likely concerning his latest court battle, an unpaid $8.7 million judgment against him; Noboa has fought many legal battles over the years starting in the 1990s. MORE

Jul. 3, 2014

Florida appellate court rules that government of Ecuador has the right to sue a pair of fugitive bankers, Roberto and William Isaias, in courts in the United States to recover $600 million that the government accuses them of having embezzled from Filanbanco. MORE

Jun. 22, 2014

May. 8, 2014

Patton Boggs drops out of effort to force Chevron to pay $9.5 billion Ecuadorean pollution judgment, expressing regrets for its involvement in case; agrees to pay oil company $15 million in settlement payments; settlement comes as another major victory for Chevron in case that has been a headache for the company for more than two decades. MORE

Apr. 26, 2014

Government of Ecuador, which has been critical of United States' influence in region, tells United States Embassy to shut down military cooperation office staffed by about 20 people from Defense Department. MORE

Apr. 20, 2014

Jim Dwyer About New York column describes story of Noemi Alvarez Quillay, 12-year-old Ecuadorian girl who committed suicide in Mexico after failing to illegally cross the border into the United States; notes that Noemi is part of a human tide of unaccompanied migrant children often left to the mercy of human traffickers that has swelled since 2011. MORE

Mar. 28, 2014

Roberto and William Isaias, Ecuadorean brothers whose relatives have contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to American political campaigns, are being investigated to determine whether donations are tied to corruption; brothers, who live in South Florida, are wanted at home on charges of embezzling millions from bank they owned there. MORE

Mar. 12, 2014

Campaign finance experts say political donations made to Pres Obama and more than a dozen members of Congress by relatives of Roberto and William Isaias, wealthy fugitives from Ecuador, create appearance of conflict of interest over decision not to extradite brothers; conflict over extradition is part of a broader battle between Ecuador and the Obama administration over international fugitives. MORE

Mar. 5, 2014

Federal Judge Lewis A Kaplan rules that two-decade legal effort to punish Chevron for polluting the Ecuadorean rain forest was marred by fraud and corruption, representing milestone victory in company's pushback against $19 billion fine imposed three years earlier; Chevron had drawn widespread condemnation for refusing to pay fine or accept blame in case. MORE

Jan. 23, 2014

Ecuador's Pres Rafael Correa says Washington has too many military officers assigned to its embassy and that he plans to order some to leave the country. MORE

Nov. 20, 2013

Chevron lawyer Randy M Mastro questions Steven R Donziger in court about emails oil company says supports its assertions of bribery and witness tampering in an Ecuadorean environmental case. MORE

Nov. 14, 2013

Freelance lawyer Steven R Donziger, who has been suing Chevron for 20 years over pollution of the Ecuadorean Amazon jungle, is as defiant as ever as he prepares to deliver new testimony in court, even as he acknowledges mistakes; Chevron is trying to prevent him and his allies from benefiting from multibillion-dollar Ecuadorean judgment that he won in 2011. MORE

Aug. 24, 2013

Editorial notes Ecuadorean Pres Rafael Correa has withdrawn offer to suspend oil drilling in Amazon's Yasuni National Park in exchange for $3.6 billion from international community; holds regardless of whether offer was made in good faith, decision to drill is devastating for park and for prospect of similar agreement in future. MORE

Aug. 17, 2013

Pres Rafael Correa of Ecuador withdraws offer to refrain from oil drilling in rain forest if
$3.6 billion was donated to trust fund intended to protect nearly 4,000 square miles of Amazon jungle; withdrawal comes after only $13 million was collected worldwide after six years. MORE

Aug. 10, 2013

Colombia’s Ministry of Defense says Colombian rebels are responsible for killing an Ecuadorean Army officer and wounding a soldier during a border skirmish. MORE

Jul. 31, 2013

Chevron Corporation has filed suit against Steven Donziger, who won $18 billion case over oil spills in Ecuadorean jungle, accusing him of manipulating evidence and bribing judges; Donziger has battled company for last two decades over environmental disaster; Chevron has yet to pay penny of two-year-old judgement. MORE

Jul. 9, 2013

Quito Journal; Vanguardia, Ecuador’s only weekly newsmagazine, closes after the government passes a controversial news media law; magazine's owner and president, Francisco Vivanco, says that law killed the magazine by creating restrictions that threaten to strangle free press, but others say that magazine closed because of fear. MORE

Jul. 4, 2013

Quito Journal; Ecuador is a favorite of American retirees on a budget; if granted asylum there, NSA leaker Edward J Snowden would likely find life in tiny, beautiful, impoverished country a bit of an adjustment for technology geek addicted to his laptop. MORE

Jul. 1, 2013

Pres Rafael Correa says Ecuador cannot yet consider asylum request from Edward J Snowden, and that it is up to Russia to decide what happens to the American fugitive; remarks add to growing sense that Snowden is stuck in geopolitical limbo in a Moscow airport. MORE

Jun. 30, 2013

Ecuadorean Pres Rafael Correa says American Vice Pres Joseph R Biden Jr called him to ask that he not grant asylum to former National Security Agency contractor Edward J Snowden; says he cannot make decision on matter until Snowden is in Ecuador or one of its embassies. MORE

Jun. 27, 2013

Ecuador signals that it may deliberate slowly on asylum application from Edward J Snowden, raising possibility that he could spend weeks in legal limbo as he plots next steps inside Moscow airport transit area. MORE

Jun. 26, 2013

Pres Rafael Correa of Ecuador, who is weighing asylum request from fugitive intelligence contractor Edward J Snowden, risks both ire of United States and preferential status for several key Ecuadorean exports if he grants request; decision may rest ultimately on combative personality of Correa and his desire to take over leadership of Latin American left. MORE

Jun. 24, 2013

Edward J Snowden arrives in Moscow from Hong Kong, as American officials press Russia to turn him over on charges of espionage; has been aided in his escape by Wikileaks and is considering potential destinations including Ecuador; frustrated Obama administration warns countries in Latin America not to harbor Snowden or allow him passage, escalating international hunt that threatens to strain relations on three continents. MORE

Jun. 15, 2013

Ecuadorean Legislature passes law regulating news media, which Pres Rafael Correa says will force news organizations to act fairly but which opponents say will quash freedom of expression. MORE

Jun. 6, 2013

Judy Blankenship and Michael Jenkins of Portland, Ore, love their second home in Andean mountain town of Canar, Ecuador, despite arduous journey to get there; rooms feature local textiles as well as furniture made by Jenkins. MORE

Jun. 4, 2013

Officials from Ecuador and Great Britain are scheduled to meet to discuss case of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has been holed up for nearly a year in Ecuadorean Embassy, foiling British attempts to extradite him to Sweden to face charges of sexual misconduct. MORE

May. 29, 2013

Ecuador's foreign minister accuses British government of trampling on the human rights of the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange by refusing to allow him to travel to Ecuador, which granted him political asylum in 2012. MORE

Apr. 13, 2013

Stratus Consulting recants its role in research that found groundwater contamination had sickened residents in swaths of Ecuador's rain forest; move is yet another bizarre twist in two-decades-old environmental dispute between Chevron and Ecuadorean Amazon villagers. MORE

Feb. 18, 2013

Ecuadorean Pres Rafael Correa is re-elected in vote that shows broad popularity of his government's social programs and support for the poor in a country to which he has brought stability after years of political and economic turmoil. MORE

Feb. 16, 2013

Ecuador's Pres Rafael Correa is running for re-election and holds hefty lead in polls, but his opponents fear legislative majority and new four-year term will feed what they see as Correa’s authoritarian tendencies. MORE

Dec. 9, 2012

Gretchen Morgenson Fair Game column observes that Chevron subpoenaed shareholder Trillium Asset Management's proposals as it tries to find ammunition in its fight against an $18 billion environment pollution case judgment in Ecuador; holds that Chevron is entitled to be as aggressive as it likes in case and it may be well proved, but its actions against a shareholder are remarkable. MORE

Nov. 21, 2012

Chevron Corporation files a complaint with the New York State ethics commission against New York State Comptroller Thomas P DiNapoli; move is latest round in Chevron's battle over an Ecuadorean lawsuit stemming from pollution of the Amazon rain forest; DiNapoli and Gov Andrew Cuomo have received tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from people with ties to lawyers representing Ecuadorean villagers suing Chevron. MORE

Nov. 8, 2012

Argentinian judge orders nearly all assets of local subsidiary of Chevron frozen until court rules on whether it will enforce judgement of more than $18 billion against company in Ecuador for environmental and other damages caused by Texaco during nearly 30 years of oil production in the Amazon. MORE

Sep. 25, 2012

San Antonio De Pichincha Journal; tourists visit Ecuador's Middle of the World park to stand on a yellow line that is said to demarcate the Earth's midpoint, except that the Equator is hundreds of feet to the north. MORE

Sep. 11, 2012

Many Ecuadoreans have rallied around Pres Rafael Correa for standing up to Great Britain in an asylum dispute involving WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. MORE

Aug. 21, 2012

Op-Ed article by filmmakers Michael Moore and Oliver Stone applauds Ecuador's decision to grant diplomatic asylum to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange; suggests British and Swedish governments' main goal is to get Assange to Sweden, where he could probably be more easily extradited to the United States; warns extradition would have grave consequences for freedom of speech around the world. MORE

Aug. 20, 2012

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange gives speech from balcony at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, casting himself as one of the world's most persecuted whistle-blowers; Assange, who has been granted asylum from British efforts to extradite him to Sweden, calls for the United States to renounce what he calls its witch hunt against WikiLeaks. MORE

Aug. 20, 2012

Op-Ed article by Prof Anita Isaacs asserts that Ecuador's decision to grant asylum to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is a reminder of Pres Rafael Correa's leadership style at home, and his potential should he assume a leadership role on the Latin American left. MORE

Aug. 17, 2012

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange finds himself facing a long stay in Ecuador's embassy in London, after the British government vows to arrest him the moment he steps out of the building, despite Ecuador's decision to grant him asylum. MORE

Aug. 16, 2012

Government of Ecuador says that it is prepared to allow WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to remain in its embassy in London indefinitely under a type of humanitarian protection; Assange arrived at the embassy on June 19, seeking to avoid being sent to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over allegations that he sexually assaulted two women. MORE

Aug. 15, 2012

Pres Rafael Correa of Ecuador denies report posted on the Web site of The Guardian that he has decided to grant asylum to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. MORE

Aug. 8, 2012

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan accuse Jorge Guerrero and five others from Ecuador of smuggling narcotics into the United States by stuffing cocaine and heroin inside food and by soaking paper with liquid cocaine; Guerrero, who pleads not guilty, faces up to 20 years in prison. MORE

Aug. 1, 2012

Chevron Corporation fails to persuade a federal Judge Lewis A Kaplan to find an $18.2 billion judgement by an Ecuadorean court unenforceable, but the judge leaves an injunction against the award in place pending further litigation; oil company is suing lawyers for Ecuadorean plaintiffs who claim Chevron is responsible for pollution in the Amazon rain forest, contending that they fabricated evidence in the case in violation of racketeering laws. MORE

Jun. 21, 2012

British and Ecuadorean authorities are at a standoff as Julian Assange, the principal founder of WikiLeaks who is wanted for arrest in Britain and Sweden, prepares to spend a second night in the small Ecuadorean Embassy in London where he is seeking political asylum. MORE

Jun. 20, 2012

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is seeking protective asylum in Ecuador from the Swedish and American governments; Assange faces extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning concerning allegations of sexual abuse and rape. MORE

Apr. 13, 2012

Ecuadorean police and education officials move to shut down 14 universities that the government determined did not meet basic academic standards; the move is part of a broad effort to improve higher education in the country. MORE

Mar. 19, 2012

Memo From Ecuador; 24 privately owned universities in Ecuador, and two government-run schools, receive a failing grade from the government and will close if evaluation does not show major improvements; Pres Rafael Correa's new education system, based on merit, is effort to improve the quality of teaching and increase university access among poorer students, including indigenous groups. MORE

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October 16, 2014, Thursday

After being left off the World Cup roster this summer, Landon Donovan put aside tension with the U.S. men’s national team and played the final game of his 15-year international career, a friendly match against Ecuador.